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We had a leisurely morning in our comfortable room and went downstairs at around 11 o'cloc well-rested. Linda cooked us breakfast to order: scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, marmalade, cereal, orange juice, and tea. It was delicious and really hit the spot. We had a nice long chat with her and really enjoyed her hospitality.
At around 1:30 Linda drove us down near the airport to pick up our camper van at Maui Camper van Rentals. The van was quite lovely - nicer than I had expected. It was the Maui Spirit 2 Deluxe. It had 2 seats up front, a stove, microwave, sink, linens, utensils, cups, dishes, pots and pans, shower, toilet, and table and benches that converted to a bed. It was the perfect size for two people. We hired a cell phone from the camper van company with prepaid $20 NZ worth of calls. It's funny, because calling the U.S. isn't that much more expensive than making local NZ calls on the thing. Linda kindly waited at the camper van office until everything was squared away, and then she drove home. Craig got the hang of driving the van very quickly (though he stalled it a couple times). It was a new exsperience to drive on the left-hand side of the road with the steering wheel on the right. We headed to a mall to browse around and buy some groceries to stock up our new home on wheels. We laughed at the "Boston Bun" - a coffee roll with bright pink frosting and coconut bits - something we've NEVER seen in Boston. We bought pizza bread, biscuits, chippies, orange juice, Fanta, etc. We saw some NZ-made avocado oil ( http://www.avocado-oil.co.nz/ ) and thought about Andrew from the plane. We got back to the Alpaca House at around 5 p.m. It was another rainy chilly day. Bill was home from work so we gave him a tour of the van. We said a quick hi to the alpacas and then went inside and sat with Bill near the fire. Missy the cat joined us and then so did Linda. We asked Linda and Bill if they'd like to go to dinner, and they said yes. Bill drove us downtown. We stopped at Christchurch Cathedral to take some pictures and we viewed the Chalice, a sculpture made in 2001. According to http://www.ccc.govt.nz/cityleisure/artsculture/artinthecity/chalice/aboutchalice.aspx: "Chalice has a solid steel base up to approximately three meters above the ground and beyond that comprises a perforated network of 42 aluminium shapes depicting the leaves of native trees that previously grew in the city area. The leaves depicted are mapou, kowhai, mahoe, totara, karamu, titoki, ngaio, maratata and koromiko. The 42 leaf patterns – complex constructions made up of computer routed shapes – are also intended to reflect the geometric features of the Cathedral, architecture, windows and tiles. As the leaves become larger, higher up the sculpture, they also become more detailed and less dense. The open texture of the artwork allows views into and through it." It looked much better than the similarly lit Lloyd's of London building! Christchurch is such a beautiful city. We ate dinner at Churchill's English Pub, a favorite haunt of Bill’s. Craig got venison in a rosemary wine sauce with salad and roasted potatoes. I got kumara and squash fritters which were served with peanut satay sauce. Craig got a "CD" (Canterbury Draught) and I got an orange Bacardi Breezer. We had a nice conversation over dinner. Linda told us that one of their last guests (who had departed the day that we arrived) had the same first and last names as me. Small world! |
 Christchurch Cathedral  Dinner at Churchill's: Craig, Linda, Bill and Steph 
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